Fire at 153-Year-Old Pennsylvania Farmhouse Accidental

March 16, 2009

Fire investigators in western Pennsylvania say a blaze that damaged a vacant 153-year-old brick farmhouse in Hollidaysburg last weekend was accidental.

A state police fire marshal tells WJAC-TV that the blaze that gutted the old Stowell farmhouse on March 7 originated in an oil furnace in the building.

The structure was to be the centerpiece of a 120-unit elderly housing village.

Owner Tim Albright’s proposed Northland Farm Cammuna Care project would include 50-plus cottages and 60 or 70 apartments and some assisted living units. Albright says the farmhouse was to be the library and village gathering place after a $100,000 renovation.

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Information from: WTAJ-TV